A Baby at Hogwarts
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Hermione and Severus, both teachers at Hogwarts after the war, are being forced to get some fresh air during the summer holidays and find a baby on the doorstep of Hogwarts. What to do with the orphan? Completely AU, partly OOC, partly very fluffy. HG/SS
1. The Baby

**- A Baby at Hogwarts -  
**

**by ****Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.__  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_---------------------------------------------------------------_

* * *

**1 – The Baby**

The war had been over for a while. Two years ago, Hogwarts had re-opened, and Hermione had attended her seventh year together with Harry, Ron, Ginny and the twins. After her NEWTs, Headmistress McGonagall had convinced her to become the Transfiguration professor and Head of Gryffindor.

During her first year of teaching at Hogwarts, while she was very busy with the two positions and struggling to get used to becoming a professor, she had shared her quarters with Ron, who was training at the Ministry of Magic to become an Auror together with Harry. However, over the year, they had noticed that their expectations for the future were extremely different. While Ron waited for Hermione to marry him and get children and eventually leave her job at Hogwarts, Hermione wanted to continue studying as much as possible and was glad to have the opportunity due to being a permanent resident at Hogwarts. At the beginning of the summer holidays, Hermione had officially ended her relationship with Ron.

From that time onwards, she spent the holidays reading and researching, completely enjoying her new found freedom. However, at the beginning of July, she came down with a bad case of bronchitis, and after keeping her in the hospital wing for a few days, Madam Pomfrey ordered her to spend at least one hour out on the grounds each day, threatening that she would force her to show up for a daily check-up if she didn't comply.

Knowing that her second young colleague had similar problems, Minerva ordered Severus Snape to accompany Hermione out onto the grounds, extending Poppy's threat to the Potions Master, who grudgingly agreed and went for a walk with Hermione every day after dinner. To their common surprise, both teachers enjoyed their walks and noticed that they always found an interesting topic to discuss. '_Severus can be really funny, and I like being in his company. He behaves completely different from how he behaved in class_,' she thought one day when they left the Great Hall together to head for a walk.

However, as soon as they opened the entrance door, they heard a small wail and looked in shock at the small bundle that was lying in front of the entrance door. A completely naked baby was curled up there, only loosely covered by black robes. It had dark brown hair and large, chocolate brown eyes.

"A baby!" Hermione whispered, terrified.

"That's what the bundle seems to be; a little boy to be exact," Severus replied dryly and gently scooped the small child onto his arms.

"Ma da," the child blurted out, happily grabbing Severus' long hair with his small hands. His anxious expression turned into a smile as he relaxed and relieved himself, causing the Potions Master to eye him with an expression of loathing.

"Could you please?" he handed the boy to Hermione and waved his wand at his robes, casting a cleaning spell at himself.

Hermione chuckled and held the baby in her left arm, while she pointed her wand at a small stone and transfigured it into a nappy. "Do you have an idea how to put that on a baby?" she asked Severus, who eyed her and the baby in disgust.

"I suggest that we take the little brat to Poppy," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"That's probably the best. She'll be able to tell us how old he is. We need to check who is missing a baby," Hermione agreed and somehow fastened the nappy around the baby's bum, before she carried the boy to the hospital wing, feeling extremely glad and reassured by Severus' company. When they reached the hospital wing, the small tyke wriggled his way down onto the floor and made a few steps forward, before he fell onto the ground and began to crawl.

"Let's see where Aunt Poppy is," Hermione cooed and gently scooped the child up.

Poppy had already heard them and came out of her office, motioning Hermione to place the baby on the first bed, before she cast a series of diagnostic spells at the boy. "He seems completely healthy and is eight months and twenty days old," she said as she pulled a tissue out of her robe pocket, pointed her wand at it and transfigured it into a light blue jump suit with small green dragons that were roaring from time to time.

"What are we going to do with him?" Hermione asked. "I mean... He must belong to someone."

Poppy let out a long sigh. "A nearly nine months old baby is not able to come to Hogwarts all by himself. Someone must have placed him in front of our entrance doors, hoping that someone would take him in," she said in a grave voice. "Let me call Minerva."

"Aww, he is so cute," Minerva cooed, gently tickling the baby's little feet. "Where is your Mummy, sweetie?" she asked the small boy, picking him up from the bed.

"Ma-Ma," the boy shouted happily, pointing to Hermione. "Dada," he added, glancing at Severus.

"Well, congratulations, Hermione and Severus," Minerva replied, chuckling.

"Minerva, this is ridiculous," Severus snarled, causing the boy to let out an anxious wail. "What are we going to do with him?"

"Well, I'm going to make an investigation with the Ministry, but as long as we can't find his parents, we will have to keep him here," Minerva said thoughtfully. "Poppy, did you by chance check if he is magical?"

"He is a wizard," Poppy confirmed gently. "His magic even seems to be quite strong."

"Well then, Hermione and Severus, since the little tyke seems to want you as his parents, I suggest that we ask the house-elves to add a nursery to your quarters, which is accessible from both your quarters. You will both be responsible for the child, at least until we find a better solution. Poppy and I will take turns looking after him while you are teaching."

Poppy gently took the baby from Minerva and laid it in Severus' arms. "Come with me and let me show you how to change his nappy," she suggested, leading the way into her office, where she motioned Severus to put the child on the sofa.

"Thank you, Poppy. I hope we'll remember how to do that," Hermione said gratefully as she fastened the nappy under her colleagues' watchful eyes.

"If not, you're welcome to come back for another lesson at any time," Poppy replied, chuckling. "Now go and put him to bed. It's beyond sleeping time for the little tyke. If he gets hungry, just call a house-elf, and they will bring you milk for him. Other than that you can take him to the Great Hall for the meals, and the house-elves will prepare something for him."

Minerva followed Hermione into her quarters, pulling a grudging Severus with her. To Hermione's relief, the small hall in her quarters already held an additional door that led into the nursery. The small room was kept in light blue colours and held everything Hermione and Severus would need to care for a baby.

Hermione gently laid the boy into his cot and tucked him in. "Good night, sweetie. Oh, by the way, do you have a name?" she asked softly.

"Awi," the boy replied and scrambled to his feet, holding on to the side rails.

"Ali? Alexander?" Hermione queried, causing a huge smile to appear on the baby's face.

"Well Alexander," Severus sighed. "Lie down and go to sleep then. It's bed time."

The baby's lower lips began to tremble as he tried to back up, ending up on his bum.

"It's all right, Alex," Hermione cooed and once more pushed him down into a lying position.

Severus pulled his wand and waved it over the boy, causing Hermione to throw him a questioning look. "That's just a surveying charm. It'll alert me if he wakes up or is in distress," Severus explained patiently. "Since I'm going to stay up for a few more hours to tend to my lesson plans, I'm going to take the first night shift. When I go to bed, I'll divert the charm to you if that's all right with you."

"That's fine. Thank you so much, Severus," Hermione replied gratefully. "I'll leave my door open. Just call me if you need me."

"I'll do the same," Severus replied, before he turned to Minerva, who had been quietly observing their interaction with obvious amusement. "Please do everything to find his parents soon. I really don't have time to play daddy for a little brat that decides to show up at Hogwarts ten and a half years too early." He turned on his heels and vanished into his quarters.

_tbc...  
_


	2. Being Sick

**- A Baby at Hogwarts -  
**

**by ****Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.__  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_---------------------------------------------------------------_

_Thank you so much for your kind comments that made me update so quickly. Warnings: Sick!Alex / Fluff HG/SS ahead  
_

* * *

**2 – Being Sick**

Hermione woke up to the baby's crying. She glanced at the charmed display of time at the ceiling, noticing that it was five o'clock in the morning.

"Dobby," she called Harry's friend, remembering that she had to contact Harry and tell him about her separation from Ron. '_Oh well, he'll have told him anyway_,' she mused as she absentmindedly picked up Alexander and sat in the rocking chair in one corner of the nursery, bringing the baby into a comfortable position on her arm, before she pressed the teat of the bottle with lukewarm milk against his lips.

However, the baby turned his head away and continued to whimper softly, causing Hermione to throw him a concerned look.

"Alex, what's wrong? Are you not hungry?" she cooed. "Dobby made it for you, and I'm sure it tastes wonderful."

The baby continued to whimper miserably. Hermione sighed. "Do you want me to change your nappy?" she asked and picked the boy up in determination, only now noticing that the child felt very hot to the touch. "Are you sick?" she asked terrified, getting even more concerned when he let out a small cough. With the baby on her arm and the still full bottle in the other hand, Hermione stepped over to the open connecting door to Severus' quarters and called her colleague, feeling very reassured when he appeared in the door to his bedroom an instant later.

"What's wrong?" he queried, quirking an eyebrow.

"I think he might be sick," Hermione said worriedly. "He feels so warm to the touch."

Severus sighed and entered the nursery, laying a cool hand on the baby's forehead. "Hmm, do you have a thermometer?"

"Only a very old Muggle one," Hermione replied and pressed the baby into his arms, before she ran back to her bedroom, returning an instant later with a small, glassy stick. "Won't he choke on it?" she asked worriedly.

Severus rolled his eyes. "You can't stick it into his mouth. You must take the other end." He laid the baby on the changing table and swiftly opened his jumpsuit and the dirty nappy, before he carefully cleaned the baby's bum and stuck the business end in, causing the small boy to squirm uncomfortably.

"It's all right, sweetie," Hermione cooed. "It'll be over soon." She threw Severus a concerned look.

"I don't think it'll be," he replied quietly. "Listen to his breathing. It doesn't sound right. I'm afraid he has more than a bad cold." He carefully pulled the beeping device out and glanced at it, before he handed it to Hermione and quickly put a fresh nappy around the baby's bum and closed the buttons of his jumpsuit.

"39.7," Hermione read in shock. "That's very high. I've never ever had such a fever."

"Small children easily get high fevers," Severus replied calmingly. "Nevertheless, we must take him to Poppy right away. May I suggest that we take the way through your quarters? It's much nearer to the hospital wing."

"Of course," Hermione replied and followed Severus through the empty halls.

"Bronchitis," the Healer diagnosed. "Leave him here with me for the time being. He is very ill. Who knows how long he has been lying in front of the entrance doors in the chilly wind we had yesterday."

Before Hermione could even open her mouth, the baby opened his and let out a huge wail. "Noo," he sobbed, reaching for Hermione and Severus. "Ma! Dada!"

Hermione and Severus exchanged a look after taking a glimpse into the glassy, brown eyes that were screaming for their love and care. "Poppy, what exactly do we need to do for him in case we take him with us?" Severus finally enquired.

Poppy sighed. "You'd have to take his temperature each time you change his nappy, which should be at least every four hours if not more frequent for the time being." She handed Severus a parchment. "Write the results on this parchment. I have the equivalent in my office. He needs one spoonful of the pneumonia potion laced with 100 ml of water and another spoonful of fever reducer in 100 ml of water every four hours. You must closely monitor him and keep him hydrated. If his condition worsens even the slightest bit, I have to connect him to an I.V. For the time being, this will suffice." She adjusted a small clip to the baby's finger and pressed a small device into Severus' hands. "This monitors his breathing, but you don't have to bother with the results, because they show up on my parchment as well. If necessary, I'll come to see you, Alexander, won't I?" she finished, smiling at the baby as she gently tickled his little toes.

"Would it be better if I brewed baby potions for him?" Severus queried.

"It is not absolutely necessary, but it would be good I suppose, because we'd be able to give him a more accurate dosage," Poppy said thoughtfully.

"Very well," Severus agreed and gently picked up the baby. "Let's go, Alexander, Hermione," he added softly.

"Thank you, Severus," Hermione replied gratefully as they stepped out into the empty hall, "for doing this together with me."

Severus smirked. "I suggest that we spend the morning in my living room. It might be a tad more comfortable for you than the nursery. We can move his cot, and you can make yourself comfortable on the sofa and the table. I'll be in my lab to brew the potion for him anyway."

"All right; I'll just fetch a few items from my office," Hermione agreed, surprised how readily Severus consented to help her with the baby.

Unfortunately, Alexander didn't want to calm down at all. He was obviously feeling miserable and continued to silently whimper, except for when Hermione or Severus were holding him. After a few hours, they found out that he seemed to feel the most comfortable on Hermione's arm with his small head on her left shoulder. He refused to drink any milk or water and only accepted an occasional sip of pumpkin juice, and when Severus forced him to drink some water, fearing that he would become dehydrated, the baby merely got sick all over Hermione's shoulder.

The two teachers noticed soon that it was a fulltime job to look after the sick baby. Every few hours, they took his temperature, which was difficult, because the child tried to squirm away and wiggle his way down from the changing table, and Hermione and Severus had a hard time trying to keep him on the table and the thermometer in its position. Unfortunately, it took five days of worrying and taking night-shifts for the new-born parents until the baby's fever finally broke.

Only when Alexander was fully recovered, Poppy told Hermione and Severus that his illness had been very severe and that she feared that it had probably weakened his breathing apparatus. "He'll probably fall sick with colds and respiratory infections easily. You must keep a close eye on him," she instructed her younger colleagues.

Two weeks after Alexander's recovery, Minerva informed her colleagues that according to the Ministry of Magic no one was missing a baby. "I suggest that you register Alexander with the two of you as guardians," she said gently, placing a parchment in front of the two young teachers. Hermione and Severus exchanged a look, before Severus pulled the parchment over and sighed as he began to fill the data in.

Name: Alexander Granger-Snape

Parents: unknown

Date of birth: October 25th, 1999

Guardian: Hermione Granger, Hogwarts

Guardian: Severus Snape, Hogwarts

Godmother: Minerva McGonagall

Godmother: Poppy Pomfrey

"Is that all right with you?" he asked, casting Hermione a questioning look.

"I'd love to have Harry or Ginny as godparents, but since we don't have time and I haven't even spoken to them about the matter..." She slowly trailed off and placed her signature at the bottom of the parchment.

Severus followed her example, and the parchment rolled itself up and vanished into thin air.

"I still can't believe that we're parents now," Hermione blurted out, unaware of the fact that everything was going to become very much more realistic soon.

A few days before the beginning of the school year, when the teachers were busy with their last preparations and staff meetings, Alexander suddenly became very whiny and instead of sitting in his playpen looking at his picture books in delight, he clung to Hermione and didn't even allow anyone else to pick him up.

"What's wrong, sweetie? Are you feeling sick?" Hermione asked in concern, carefully feeling his forehead as she settled down on the sofa in Severus' sitting room with the intention of completing the Gryffindors' time tables. "He feels a bit warm," she said to Severus, who was occupying the other side of the table.

"Let's check his temperature then," he replied and swiftly stood up, fetching the thermometer from the changing table, motioning Hermione to stay put with the baby on her arm.

"Coww," Alexander mumbled, shivering violently as Severus opened the nappy, revealing the boy's naked bum to stick the thermometer in.

"Are you cold, sweetie?" Hermione asked, torn between being worried about the child becoming sick again and happy to hear a new word from him.

"His skin is very hot," Severus commented as he tried to keep the thermometer in place. He laid the device aside and quickly dressed the baby again, before he said in concern, "He is running a fever of forty point two degrees. I suspect that it's the flu, but I'm going to call Poppy to be sure."

Alexander was indeed suffering from the wizard's flu, and in spite of the baby flu potion Severus brewed for him, he felt absolutely miserable and didn't allow anyone to separate him from his surrogate mother. Severus tried a few times to take the baby off his colleague when he was fast asleep; however, the sick child woke up at each of these efforts.

"It's all right, Severus. I'll just take him to bed with me," Hermione mumbled in exhaustion, causing Severus to throw her a worried glance.

"Just stay where you are," he replied softly and waved his wand to transfigure his sofa into a most comfortable bed. "I want you to take the preventive flu potion though. Is it all right if I spell it into your system?"

"Of course; thank you, Severus," Hermione replied gratefully, before she drifted off to sleep with the baby in her arm.

Unfortunately, the preventive potion did not prevent Hermione from catching the flu as well, and by the time Alexander slowly returned to his usual cheerful self, she began to feel miserable. Her head and her throat were sore, her ears seemed to be filled with cotton, and she began to feel chills run through her body.

"I think it's time to try to make Alexander sleep in his cot tonight. His fever is down to a slight temperature," Severus stated after changing the baby's nappy and checking on him on the changing table.

Receiving no answer from Hermione, he worriedly placed the baby into the cot, tucked him in and unobtrusively cast a light sleeping charm on him, before he returned to the living room, where Hermione was sitting on the sofa turned bed, staring at a parchment. He was just about to release a nasty comment, when he noticed that her eyes were glazed over and sweat was building on her forehead, although she seemed to be shivering. '_Her cheeks are flushed from fever_,' he realised, sighing. He slowly approached the bed and sat down next to Hermione, carefully placing a hand on her burning forehead.

"I'm afraid the flu potion didn't work," he said softly, gently pushing Hermione into a lying position.

"So cold," she whispered as a violent shiver shook her body.

"I know," Severus replied softly. "Let me just fetch something; then I'll be back and make you feel warmer." He quickly summoned two phials from his potions lab and the thermometer from the nursery, placing the phials on the table. He cast a cleaning spell on the thermometer, before he stretched out on the bed next to Hermione. "Open up and let me check your temperature," he said softly, trying to coax the cold device into her mouth, but she firmly kept her lips shut.

"Not in my mouth. I know that you cleaned it but still," she muttered, nestling deep into his robes in a faint attempt to make the shivers stop.

"In your bum then?" Severus queried, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Hermione groaned and reached for his cold hand that was gripping the device. She carefully led his hand under the jumper and the blouse she was wearing under her robes, so that he could stick it under her armpit. "Can you warm me a bit?" she pleaded, slowly guiding his hand over her small breasts that felt very hot to the touch.

"You're wearing too many layers," Severus mumbled, more to himself than to the young woman in his arm.

"I'd take them off," Hermione mumbled, "but I'm so cold."

"You won't take anything off now. You're ill," Severus replied firmly, inwardly scolding himself, '_What am I doing here? She is my colleague, and she is delirious with a high fever_.' He slowly pulled his hands away, sat up and pulled the covers up to her chin, instructing her to keep the thermometer in place until the reading was finished.

_tbc..._


	3. Cuddling

**- A Baby at Hogwarts -  
**

**by ****Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.__  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_---------------------------------------------------------------_

_Warning: This chapter is **extremely fluffy** (I wrote it while being sick and awake during the night...)  
_

* * *

**3 – Cuddling**

Before Severus knew what happened, Hermione pulled him back down and leaned over, pressing her dry lips against his own. "Severus, I love you," she whispered, before she captured his mouth again with her lips and her tongue demanded to be allowed in.

'_I can't do that_,' his unconsciousness screamed, but Severus automatically opened up and allowed himself to be pulled into a long and heated kiss that was only disturbed by the beeping of the thermometer. However, Hermione still didn't let go, but slang both arms around his neck and leaned further into the kiss, causing Severus to feel his body heat up in excitement.

Finally, Hermione released him, only to dive into a coughing fit that quickly brought him back to reality. He sat up and held out his hand to his colleague, who searched between her clothes and finally handed him the thermometer. The blue mercury line showed a fever of just above thirty-nine degrees.

"You definitely have the flu," Severus said in concern, "which I can't understand, because I gave you the preventive potion the other day." '_Maybe it was too late_,' he mused. '_I better take it as well_.' He gently helped Hermione to sit up and handed her the phial with the flu potion followed by a fever reducer and quickly waved his wand to exchange her clothes with comfortable, light pyjamas.

"Will you lie down with me?" Hermione croaked, still shivering violently. "So cold without you."

"I'll be back in five minutes," Severus reassured her against better knowledge, before he quickly headed to the nursery and cast a charm on the baby that would alert him if he was needed. He retired to his bedroom and changed into pyjamas, headed to the lab and took the preventive flu potion, hoping that it wouldn't be too late for him as well, and returned to Hermione's side. He stretched out next to her, glad that the bed he had transfigured from the sofa was so large and comfortable.

Hermione nestled into his embrace, and he could feel the heat of her body through the light pyjamas. "I think my layers are gone and I'm cold," she mumbled, looking at him accusingly from her glassy brown eyes as she once more took his hand and guided it under her pyjama top to make him caress the soft curves of her body. "Feels so good," she mumbled as he automatically continued to gently stroke her hot body. Suddenly, she unbuttoned his pyjama top and carefully pulled his top off, before she gently began to let her hands wander over the upper part of his body.

Noticing that she was still shivering, he pulled her closer and gently covered her with the covers, causing her to slowly drift off to sleep in his arm. He was just about to fall asleep as well, when Alexander's soft crying brought him back to reality. Carefully making sure that Hermione didn't wake up, he headed to the baby's crib and took the boy out. "Let's see if you're ready to drink some milk," he said soothingly and called Cicero, his personal house-elf, to ask for a bottle of milk, while he settled down in the rocking chair. To his relief, Alexander seemed to have regained a little appetite and managed to drink half of his bottle.

Severus quietly spoke with the baby, while he tried to make him burp. "You'll have to keep up with me for the moment. You mummy is sick as well," he told him when he finally took him to the changing table to change his nappy and check his temperature. Seeing that the baby's temperature was still slightly elevated, he spelled another dose of the baby flu potion into his system and placed the child back into the crib, instructing him to be quiet and sleep quickly, so that his mummy could rest. As soon as the baby's breathing evened out, he returned to Hermione's side and lay down.

'_Oh my, she's even hotter than before_,' he realised and stood up once more to fetch the thermometer. Casting a quick cleaning spell, he warmed his hands and warmed the cold glassy stick in his hands so as not to wake Hermione, before he carefully lifted her pyjama top and coaxed the thermometer under her armpit, gently stroking the curves of her body as she stirred. "It's all right, go back to sleep," he whispered reassuringly, causing her to drift back to sleep. However, as soon as the device beeped, she was wide awake. '_Forty point five_,' Severus realised, glancing in shock at the blue line. '_Can it be that no potions work on her?_' he mused and decided to give her the strongest fever reducer he had in stock.

"Hmm?" Hermione asked when he made her drink the potion.

"Your fever is a tad on the high side, and I must see if this fever reducer works," Severus replied softly."

"I don't mind, if you cuddle with me," Hermione mumbled and once more pulled him into a kiss. Severus was just about to relax as he replied to the kiss when she abruptly pulled back and croaked, "You did take the preventive potion, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did," Severus reassured her, although he was nearly sure that it had been too late, considering that his throat suddenly felt like sand paper.

"That's good," she mumbled and nestled deep into his embrace, closing her achy eyes.

A few hours later, Hermione and Severus woke up by Alexander's crying. "It's all right. I'll do it," Severus whispered to Hermione and slowly scrambled out of bed. By the time he had reached the crib, he felt extremely dizzy and decided to take the baby to bed with him. He asked Cicero for Alexander's milk and scrambled back into bed with Alexander in his left arm and the milk in his right, noticing in relief that Cicero had apparently noticed what was wrong and was placing the crib right next to the bed.

"Severus, what's wrong?" Hermione croaked in concern, seeing that he was feeding the baby in bed, which they had only done when Alexander had been very ill.

"I was too tired to stay up," Severus lied, causing Hermione to throw him a sharp look.

"Are you sick?" she asked worriedly, slowly reaching out for his forehead.

"Dada fick," Alexander announced, letting go of his bottle. "Ma-Ma fick?"

"Daddy seems to be sick as well, Alex," Hermione replied, feeling the child's forehead that felt extremely cold to the touch. "Are you feeling well?" she asked.

"Awi goo," Alex replied and continued to suck his milk until the bottle was empty.

Deciding to skip changing his nappy and checking on him, Severus placed Alexander back into his crib, sighing in relief as he was able to lie down again.

"Give me the thermometer please," Hermione demanded, causing Severus to frown.

"He's all right, Hermione. His skin was absolutely cold, and he drank all of his milk for the first time in days."

Hermione reached over him, taking the thermometer from the table, which Cicero had moved to the side to make space for the crib. Pulling the covers firmly over them, she once more took Severus' pyjama top off and coaxed the glassy stick under his armpit, before she laid her head on his chest and observed the blue line steadily move upwards until it stopped at thirty-nine point three.

Seeing that Severus had already drifted off to sleep, Hermione quietly put the device back on the table and lay back, cuddling close to Severus, knowing that sooner or later Alexander would wake them up again.

During the day, Hermione and Severus took turns feeding Alexander and changing his nappy, always taking him back to their bed. The baby seemed to sense that they were both very ill and needed their rest, because he quietly cuddled with them or looked at his animated books. Only when he became hungry or felt unwell due to his wet nappy, he began to whimper. It was in the early afternoon that Minerva hesitantly entered the nursery through Hermione's quarters and found her two colleagues and the baby cuddling in Severus' living room.

"Are you sick?" she asked in surprise, causing Hermione and Severus to throw her glassy looks. "Oh no, did you both catch the flu from Alexander? Well then, I'm going to take Alexander with me, and I'll send Poppy to check on you."

"No," Severus replied in annoyance. "We'll be fine without Poppy's fussing. We're looking after each other."

"It's all right," Hermione said hoarsely. "Now Alex, are you going to spend a few hours with Granny?"

"Yay, Gaga!" Alex shouted happily and scrambled to his feet, raising his arms towards Minerva.

HP

For the rest of the day, Minerva looked after Alexander, while Hermione and Severus stayed in bed together, drifting in and out of sleep and cuddling and kissing every now and then. By the time Minerva brought Alexander back for the night, both of them were already feeling considerably better. Nevertheless, Minerva returned in the morning and insisted on taking Alexander with her for another day.

"I want you to stay in bed or at least rest. You know well enough that you won't have any time for yourselves when the school year begins, especially now with Alex," she said firmly, knowing from a look in the two pale faces that her colleagues were not completely well yet.

Hermione and Severus spent the whole day in bed just like the day before. It was nearly dinnertime, when Severus hesitantly spoke up. "Hermione, do you remember what you told me the other night?"

Hermione threw him a surprised glance and couldn't help her cheeks turn slightly pink, although it was not from the fever this time. "That I love you?" she queried.

"You were delirious at that time," he said accusingly.

"I was not delirious," Hermione replied firmly.

"You were."

"I wasn't!"

Severus finally smirked. "Well, if you weren't delirious at that time, it wouldn't matter if I asked you if you would mind becoming my wife. Is that correct, Ms. Know-it-all?"

_tbc..._


	4. Sad News

**- A Baby at Hogwarts -  
**

**by ****Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.__  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_---------------------------------------------------------------_

* * *

**4 – Sad News**

"Yes," Hermione replied, rolling her eyes, "I mean, no, it wouldn't matter."

Severus smirked. "I'm sorry. I know this is not the most romantic place of the world, but ..."

"Yes," Hermione interrupted him firmly, before she leaned over and closed her eyes as her lips searched his, mumbling something like "very romantic," before she pulled him into a long and heated kiss.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Minerva was the first to hear the good news, quickly followed by Poppy. Alexander's two godmothers and surrogate grandmothers were very happy for Hermione, Severus and Alexander.

"Perhaps you should consider blood adopting Alexander," Minerva said one day, when the four adults were having tea together in Severus' living room that had become the centre of the small family's life.

"Excuse me, but what exactly does that mean, and what would be the consequences?" Hermione queried, looking at Severus.

"In order to blood adopt someone you give him a blood adoption potion, which contains your blood. It makes the person to become your child even in blood. For us, this would mean that we could give him a potion with either your or mine blood in it. He would then look like you or me."

"Can't we give him a combined potion?"

"I need to do a bit of research," Severus replied thoughtfully. "My grandfather developed the adoption potion for a friend, but as far as I know he didn't do any experiments with combined potions. I think it should be possible though. Give me a few weeks to be sure."

"You should consider when you want to give him the potion anyway," Poppy threw in, her voice laced with concern. "We have November, and during the last three months Alexander has come down with colds and infections every second week. I'm afraid that this will probably continue during the winter but will hopefully improve during spring and summer. From a medical point of view, I'd wait until the summer and only give him the potion when he is really well."

"Then we'll do that," Severus replied immediately and rose from the sofa when the one-year-old began to cry in his crib.

"He cries in a very subtle voice, doesn't he?" Poppy wondered. "Normally, babies make a huge noise when they're hungry.

Hermione smiled. "Alexander is very easy to handle. He never cries aloud, only just loud enough to wake us up, and if he sees that someone is there, he immediately stops crying. Apparently, he understands that something is going to happen for him when he sees us."

"Well, you haven't disappointed him yet, have you?" Minerva said softly. "You're both taking very good care of him.

"We both love him as if he was our own," Hermione replied in a small voice, "and I hope he'll get a small sister or brother soon after we're married."

"Did you already think about officially announcing your engagement?" Minerva asked carefully. "It will be a huge shock for our students to see the Heads of Gryffindor and Slytherin become a couple."

Severus, who just returned with a sleepy Alexander on his shoulder, chuckled. "That will be a shock indeed. I suggest that we give them the pleasure to have something to think about during the winter holidays, which would be achieved if we told them at the Leaving Feast."

"You're absolutely mean, Sev," Hermione said and took Alexander from him after he let out a huge burp. "I'll change him. Oh and, I love the idea of telling them at the Leaving Feast."

After changing Alexander into a new nappy, Hermione returned with the sleeping baby. "I'm going to Diagon Alley tomorrow to meet Ginny Weasley. Actually, I haven't met any of my friends since Alex came to live with us. Poppy, do you think I can take him with me, or is it too cold for him?"

Poppy quickly waved her wand at the child, before she slid it back into her robe pocket. "He is fine. See that you dress him warm enough but not too warm. Of course, instable as his health condition is, he might catch something if he comes in contact with so many people, but that will be inevitable, and if he gets sick afterwards, we'll deal with it."

"He is adorable," Minerva threw in, glancing at the child, who was spread on Hermione's lap with his teddy, which she had conjured for him weeks ago, tucked firmly under his left arm and his right thumb in his mouth, fast asleep.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Hermione apparated to a side street to Diagon Alley, cuddling Alexander close to her chest. "Hey sweetie, is everything all right?" she cooed as she looked into the child's face.

"Ye," he replied slowly, apparently noticing that the annoying movement had stopped.

"Now, Alex, we're going to meet Ginny. She is a good friend of mine, and we attended Hogwarts together. Afterwards, we'll have a look in the bookshop and in the toyshop, won't we?"

"Yay," Alexander shouted happily. "Awi boo?" he queried in excitement.

"Yes, we're going to buy a book for you," Hermione reassured him, feeling very happy that her soon to be real son seemed to love books as much as herself. "We also need to look for a Christmas present for Dada."

"Dada, Dada," Alex shouted happily and wiggled his way down from Hermione's arm.

"Well, then let's go," Hermione suggested and took the boy's small hand, before they slowly walked down the main shopping street towards the small coffee shop, where she had agreed to meet Ginny.

"Hermione!" a voice called out to her as soon as she entered the shop.

"Ginny!" Hermione said quietly, feeling just a little bit uncomfortable, since it was the first time to meet her friend after her separation from Ron. "This is Alexander," she quickly introduced the boy, seeing that Ginny was looking at him in surprise.

"Whose child is it?" Ginny asked curiously, smiling at Alex, who gave a toothy smile back.

"We don't know that, but Severus and I are his guardians, and we're planning to blood adopt him," she explained in a small voice, before she turned to Alex. "Alex, do you want cocoa?"

"Yay, coco," Alex cheered and climbed down from his chair, standing in front of her, raising both hands. "Up," he demanded happily.

Absentmindedly pulling the child up onto her lap, Hermione asked, "Ginny, how is everyone? I'm sorry, you know..."

"Hermione, you don't have to be sorry," Ginny interrupted her quickly. "In fact I've always wondered how you could get along with Ron. I never thought you'd be a good match, although I appreciated it, because you've always been a good friend of the family." She let out a long sigh. "Unfortunately, I have bad news. Ron and Harry... They both vanished, and we have no idea where they are."

"They vanished?" Hermione shouted in shock. "Oh sorry," she added, noticing that everyone present in the small coffee shop looked at her. In a smaller voice, she continued, "When and why? Do you know where they are?"

Ginny sadly shook her head. "No. When Ron returned to the Ministry after the summer holidays, Harry didn't show up, and after a few days, Ron became worried and went to Grimmauld place to check on him, but he never returned. We assume that remaining Death Eaters caught them, although they've never been found, so we can't be sure. Maybe they're still in captivity."

"Oh no, Ginny," Hermione blurted out, terrified. "I always thought I needed to contact Harry, although I wasn't sure how to address Ron. Oh no, that's too horrible. I must tell Severus about it. Maybe he has an idea how to find out more."

"Do you get along with him well? How is he as a colleague?" Ginny asked, smiling as Hermione gently pried the spoon out of Alex's small hands, seeing that he was about to begin banging it against her cup.

"No, don't do that, Alex. It'll break," she told him softly, before she turned back to Ginny and hesitantly told her about her engagement with the Potions Master. Finally, she once again changed the topic. "I can't imagine what can have happened to Ron and Harry at Grimmauld place. It was supposed to be safe."

Ginny sighed. "It was, and my whole family went there together to search for them. The place looked just normal, as if nothing had happened. We really don't have a clue what might have happened. It's so sad. I know Ron was.... Well, you know how he was, but I miss him so badly. And Harry... He promised to get back to me after the war, and... I'm still waiting for him to come. Every time the fireplace flares, I think it's one of them..." She burst out into tears.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments!!_


	5. Shopping

**- A Baby at Hogwarts -  
**

**by ****Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.__  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_---------------------------------------------------------------_

* * *

**5 – Shopping**

Hermione quickly cast a silencing charm around their table and gently laid her hand on Ginny's. "I'm so sorry, Ginny. But take the absence of news as good news. Maybe they're just doing something stupid again. But I'm sure they'll come back," she said softly, ignoring the bad feeling that was threatening to overcome her mind.

Alex gently held his teddy out for Ginny, throwing her a sad smile.

"Oh sweetie, that's so kind of you to want to give Ginny your teddy," Hermione said in amazement at the child's kindness.

"Thank you, Alex, but it's all right," Ginny replied softly, smiling at the cute boy. "I must go. I need to do some shopping for Mum."

"All right, Ginny; keep in touch, and I'll ask Severus if he can find out something," Hermione promised and turned to Alex. "Shall we go to the bookshop?"

"Ye!" Alex shouted in excitement, eagerly sliding down from her lap. "Awi boo!"

"He is so sweet," Ginny said in amazement. "You're very lucky, Hermione."

"I know," Hermione said happily, pulling her friend into a light hug. "Take care, Ginny."

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Hermione and Alex spent a while in the bookshop, until Alex seemed to become tired. Hermione bought a few books for the child as well as for herself and left the shop. She pulled a tissue out of her robe pocket and transfigured it into a buggy. "Now Alex, I suggest you sit in the buggy and rest for a while, hmm?" she suggested gently, and when she held out one of his new picture books for him, Alex readily agreed, giggling in excitement at the animals in the book that were playing animatedly, making sounds every now and then.

Before they had even reached the toy shop, Alexander was already fast asleep, and Hermione used the quiet to carefully choose a few more children's books as well as a train set of the Hogwarts Express as Christmas presents for Alexander, before she made a trip to the nearby apothecary to buy something for Severus as well.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

As soon as she returned to Hogwarts, Hermione asked Severus if he was able to find something out about Harry's and Ron's whereabouts. Severus frowned and remained thoughtful for a while, before he replied, "I'm very sorry, Hermione, but I don't have contact to any of the Death Eaters anymore. Most of them died in the war anyway, and the others most likely assume that I'm dead. However, I can't imagine that Death Eaters could have attacked the dunderheads at Grimmauld place. The house was even stronger warded than at Professor Dumbledore's time, since Potter only let his friends as well as selected members of the order in. I was even surprised that I was allowed into the house for a meeting, while we were still re-building Hogwarts."

Hermione sighed. "I just hope Ron didn't do anything stupid because I kind of threw him out of my quarters."

Severus smirked and gently laid his arms around her. "Weasley always was a dunderhead, but I wouldn't worry too much over him, and Potter wouldn't do anything stupid because of you separating from Weasley. Maybe they decided they had enough of the magical world and chose to spend the future in the Muggle world."

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

During the following weeks, Hermione was too busy with Alexander, classes and her Head of House duties to further ponder the matter of her former best friends. Only sometimes, when she woke up during the night and had to feed Alex, she had time to wonder what might have happened, and she couldn't help feeling guilty for separating from Ron, although everyone around her kept telling her how much of a better choice Severus was.

Shortly before Christmas, Alexander did Hermione a huge favour by apparently deciding to finally sleep through the nights. '_Thank God_,' Hermione thought at the beginning of the holidays when Alex had slept through the nights for a whole week. 'Even _if I only get up to take him to my bed and we go back to sleep together, it's very tiring to wake up at all every night_.'

During the winter holidays, Hermione moved into Severus' quarters. Since the beginning of the school year, they had already more or less been living together, but seeing that she had to return to her own quarters to fetch things every now and then, Severus suggested asking Cicero to move everything together with a few other house-elves. Alexander, who was now nearly fifteen months old, used the holidays that were spent in their quarters, to explore his surroundings, toddling from one room into the next. With delight, he discovered the bookshelves that were surrounding the huge living room, using a quiet minute, during which his parents were busily grading tests, to pull every single book out that he could reach.

"Oh no! Severus, look," Hermione suddenly groaned, causing Severus to look up from his work and stand up with an angry expression on his face.

He walked over to where the toddler was sitting on the floor, engrossed in a book about potions ingredients that held many coloured photos of magical herbs. "Now Alexander, that was very bold," he told him sternly. "You will go to bed right away."

"Nooo!" Alexander protested vehemently, but his father picked him up, changed him into pyjamas and laid him into his crib.

"Good night, Alexander. Sleep well," he said in his usual soft voice, brushing a kiss on the child's forehead.

"Nooo! Mamaaa!" Alex began to wail, and stood up, jumping up and down as soon as the Potions Master had left the nursery.

Sighing, Hermione interrupted her work and walked over to her son. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but you were very bold. Now go to sleep. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and you may help decorating the Christmas tree in the Great Hall," she promised, kissed her son and once more tucked him in.

However, Alexander didn't want to sleep yet. His inner clock told him that it was much too early to sleep, and he wanted to be in the huge room with the large bookshelves that he adored, where his parents were sitting, cuddling him every now and then. He stood up once again, fiercely trying to push the bars away. Realising that it didn't work, he began to jump up and down again, feverishly thinking that he wanted to get out to be with his mummy and daddy.

Hermione and Severus looked up terrified when they heard a loud thud from the nursery, followed by Alexander's crying. "What has he done now?" Severus voiced in annoyance, and the two teachers hurried into their son's room.

Alexander was lying on the floor, clutching his head; however, upon seeing his parents enter the room he sat up, and a huge smile spread over his face.

"Oh Alex," Hermione sighed in exasperation, picking the toddler from the floor. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Awi no sweep. No bowd. Awi goo." Before Hermione could reply, Alex got sick over her shoulder.

Severus sighed and with a flick of his wand cleaned Hermione and Alex. "Don't tell me you got a concussion by jumping out of your crib with accidental magic. Does your head hurt?"

Alex nodded, unconsciously wincing at the pain the small movement caused. This didn't go unnoticed by Severus, who instructed Hermione to take the child back into the living room, while he headed to the fireplace and called Poppy.

"Yes, he has a slight concussion," the Healer told them. "He is a very powerful child. I'm sure you're going to have much fun raising him," she said, smirking.

"Oh thank you so much, Poppy. That was exactly what we needed," Severus replied dryly.

"Well, he needs to rest, and he shouldn't overly move his head. If necessary, you have to stabilise his head with a spell," Poppy replied and instructed Severus, which potions Alexander needed.

Fortunately, his condition improved quickly, and on Christmas Eve Alexander was allowed to watch the teachers decorate the huge Christmas tree in the Great Hall. Each of the teachers added something to the tree. While Severus conjured a bubbling cauldron with many ingredients flying into the cauldron, only to emerge as silver stars after a small while, Hermione conjured several golden baubles that were decorated with magical animals.

"Which one do you like most?" she asked a happily squealing Alexander, who excitedly pointed to the one with the phoenix.

"You like the phoenix?" Minerva asked, smiling, and gently took the ornament out of Hermione's hand, putting it onto the tree just in Alexander's eye height.

"Yay," Alexander shouted happily and intensely glared at the bauble, causing several gasps from the adults as the red fire phoenix suddenly changed its colour into light blue.

"Aww, you did that very well, sweetie," Hermione cooed, gently pulling the child into a hug.

"However, you shouldn't do any magic yet," Poppy threw in sternly. "Otherwise, you will aggravate your condition."

For the rest of the day, Hermione and Severus kept a close look at the boy to prevent him from doing more accidental magic. However, on Christmas day, when the students, who had remained in the castle over Christmas, were playing together with Alex, setting up the train set of the Hogwarts Express he had received from Father Christmas, Alex suddenly gripped his head in pain and silently began to cry.

_tbc..._


	6. Adoption

**- A Baby at Hogwarts -  
**

**by ****Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.__  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_---------------------------------------------------------------_

* * *

**6 – Adoption**

"Professor Granger, something is wrong with Alex," the students called out to the teachers, who were peacefully drinking tea at the head table.

"I'll go," Poppy said quickly and headed towards the toddler, who was still gripping his head in pain. "Did you aggravate your condition?" she asked softly, placing the boy in Hermione's arms, before she cast a diagnostic spell. "His headache seems to be worse," she quietly informed the parents.

Severus quickly spelled Alexander's next dose of potion into the boy's system, but Alexander spent the rest of the day clinging to Hermione, whispering, "Mummy," over and over.

However, in spite of what had happened on Christmas day, Alex enjoyed his train set very much. When they returned to their quarters in the evening, Severus set it up in the living room, and during the following weeks whenever the small family was at home after classes, the boy eagerly played with the train, muttering, "Choo-choo."

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

In spite of being the only child at Hogwarts, Alexander seemed to like living in the huge castle. While his parents were teaching classes, he spent his time either with Granny Minerva in the amazing round office that held many books and other interesting looking objects or with Aunt Poppy in a playpen in her office, from where he watched her interact with the students. His playpen was equipped with several children's books and a few magical plush animals, and Hermione and Severus were always surprised to see into which other animals he had transfigured his toys during the day.

"He is amazing," Severus laughed one day, holding up a green snake that was moving its tail, hissing, "I'm not a potions ingredient."

"Oh, one of the Ravenclaw students helped him with that," Poppy laughed. "Ms. Miller; she is not contagious anymore, and I allowed him to visit her for a while."

The students were very fond of the small boy, and whenever Hermione or Severus took him with them to the Gryffindor or Slytherin common room, the girls immediately began to fuss over him. Alexander seemed to not overly like the fussing; however, he loved to play with the older children, especially when the boys transfigured objects into small cars for him.

Sometimes, Rolanda Hooch, the flying instructor, took Alexander out onto the grounds and allowed him to fly on the small toddler's broom, which he had received from Minerva and her for Christmas. Alexander loved to fly, and he loved to observe the Quidditch matches on either of his parents' lap, driving Hermione crazy by his cheering, because she had no interest in Quidditch and used to unobtrusively read books during the matches that afforded her presence because her House was involved.

One day, Alexander caused a huge commotion, when he observed the Slytherin versus Hufflepuff match from his father's lap and suddenly spotted the Snitch right behind the Slytherin goal.

"Daddy, look! De Nitch," he shouted in excitement, causing the whole school to look at him in amusement as his high child's voice travelled over the Quidditch pitch.

Fortunately, the Snitch decided to hide elsewhere soon after the incident, before any of the Seekers could follow the boy's advice and catch it.

"Thank you for trying to help our team," the Slytherin team captain said to Alexander after finally winning the match and invited him to attend the victory party in the common room.

Severus turned to the Head girl, who was a Slytherin for the first time in many years. "Ms. Bulstrode," he told Millicent's younger sister, "You will be responsible for my son. He is too small to drink any alcohol."

"It's all right, Professor. We'll take good care of him," the girl reassured him, and from that time onwards, Alexander often attended the Quidditch parties in the respective Houses. Sometimes, Hermione and Severus even allowed him to spend the night in one of the dormitories.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Towards the end of the school year, Hermione and Severus became very busy, not only with their usual work, but also because they had decided to hold their wedding on the second day of the summer holidays to give the students, who wanted to attend their wedding, a chance to do so.

"Who would want to attend the wedding ceremony of the bat of the dungeons and an insufferable know-it-all?" Severus sneered during their preparations, causing Alexander to cheer and Hermione to roll her eyes.

"Well, at least our son is going to attend," she laughed. "Isn't that enough?"

"That's definitely enough. Just let's get over with it today and spare ourselves and the school the entire ruckus," Severus gave back, raising an eyebrow.

However, to his huge surprise, on the first day of the summer holidays, only two students took the Hogwarts Express, while everyone else decided to stay for the ceremony. Fortunately, the weather was fine, and Hogwarts enjoyed the largest party it had seen after the Yule ball that had taken place during the Triwizard tournament several years ago. In the evening, Hermione, Severus and Alexander travelled to Prince Manor, Severus' ancestors' home, for a week of undisturbed honeymoon and holiday.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Unfortunately, on the day when they returned to Hogwarts with the intention of giving Alexander the combined adoption potion that Severus had researched and developed in the meantime, Alexander came down with the flu and had to remain in bed for a whole week, and it was only at the beginning of July that Poppy finally deemed him well enough to receive the adoption potion.

Hermione sat on the sofa in the living room with Alexander on her lap and together with Severus patiently explained to the child that the potion was going to make him their child in blood and that he was probably going to look like a combination of both of them; however, when Severus pressed the goblet with the potion against the boy's lips, Alexander pressed his lips shut.

"Don't you want us to become your real parents?" Hermione asked in concern, gently cuddling the child on her lap.

However, Alexander merely said, "Lub you, Mummy Daddy."

"Shall I spell the potion into his stomach?" Poppy offered gently.

"I'll do that," Severus replied and waved his wand over the goblet with the dark blue liquid and the toddler.

During the following minutes, the three adults observed with a mixture of amazement and concern how the boy's features changed. His hair that had looked similar to Hermione's became straight and black like Severus', and to everyone's surprise his eyes that previously held a chocolate brown colour like Hermione's changed to emerald green.

"One of his real parents must have had green eyes," Severus muttered, looking at his child in concern. "Is everything all right, Alex?" he asked softly, causing the small boy to throw him a genuine smile.

"Yes," Alex replied softly, nestling deeper into Hermione's robes.

All of a sudden, Minerva stepped out of the fireplace, a very stern expression clouding her face. "I just received a most disturbing letter," she said in a thin voice as she firmly approached the sofa. "Oh, aren't you a sweetie," she cooed at the sight of the child, taking in his emerald eyes without surprise.

Alexander returned a huge smile that didn't even waver when Minerva gently pulled up his fringe and everyone let out huge gasps at the sight of a well known scar on the boy's forehead.

_tbc..._

_Of course Alexander is Harry - I thought that was obvious from the beginning onwards, at least from when he said his name!  
_


	7. Epilogue

**- A Baby at Hogwarts -  
**

**by ****Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.__  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_---------------------------------------------------------------_

* * *

**7 – Epilogue**

Ten years and two months later, Alexander was standing in the Great Hall, waiting together with the other first years for his name to be called. While he was waiting, he couldn't help his thoughts flash back to a time eleven years ago.

_**Flashback first of July, 2000...**_

Harry Potter thoughtfully sat at the kitchen table at Grimmauld place. His first year of Auror training, which he had begun right after taking his NEWTs at Hogwarts, had just ended, and he tried to relax, knowing that he had a whole month of holidays. '_Thank God_,' he thought. '_Ron has been in such a bad mood ever after Hermione separated from him two weeks ago. He seems to have gone nuts anyway, talking about retreating to the Muggle world because of their separation. Stupid, just stupid_.'

Suddenly, a thought penetrated his mind. '_If I was going to hide, which I really should do, considering how crappy my life has been so far, I'd take a de-aging potion in order to have a new childhood_.' As absurd as the thought seemed at first, while Harry considered it during the following week, the idea took on forms, and he finally decided to pull through with it. First of all, he used the Potions lab that, thanks to Severus Snape, was fully equipped. He chose the de-aging potion that allowed a person to keep his memories, and after the third try managed to flawlessly brew the potion. He then used his secret Metamorphmagus abilities to change his hair and eyes to brown and hide his scar, sighing contentedly as he looked at himself in the mirror. He then wrote two identical letters, the first of all addressed to '_My friends_', the second to '_Professor McGonagall_'.

'_I have finished what everyone expected me to do. Now I want to have a real life. I want to be raised at Hogwarts, if possible by Hermione. If not possible, my second choice would be Minerva McGonagall or Severus Snape. Please give me the childhood I never had.  
Harry'_

He placed one of the parchments on the kitchen table, before he cast a complicated charm on the second parchment. He charmed it to appear in front of Headmistress Minerva McGonagall if by any chance his true features, represented by his scar, would appear again.

'_I think that was all_,' he mused. During the week while he prepared his stunt, he spent every evening on the Hogwarts grounds in his Animagus form, a light blue ice phoenix, and knew that Hermione and Severus were taking walks around the grounds every evening. '_It couldn't be easier_,' he thought, chuckling as he completely undressed, only throwing black robes over his naked skin. He left his wand under the pillow on his bed, changed into his phoenix form and flashed himself right in front of the Hogwarts entrance doors, where he transformed back and downed the potion, quickly throwing the phial away, before his body succumbed to the potion.

_**(End of flashback)**_

"Granger-Snape, Alexander," his father's voice pulled him out of his thoughts, and he slowly stepped forward, curious as to where the Sorting Hat would place him this time.

'_You again?_' the Hat asked in disbelief, before it shouted into the Hall, "Ravenclaw."

**The End**


End file.
